Moo-ve Over Racecars!

“And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’” Luke 5:30-32, NAS.

Recently I attended the annual "steer races" in our province. In this event two steers are harnessed to a bamboo sled. The driver stands on the sled as it glides over standing water pulled by the thundering steers. Each race features two drivers with their teams. The loser goes home and the winner advances to the next round of the bovine equivalent of "March Madness."

Several times racers detoured into the infield or just plowed through the crowd. You take your chances positioning yourself next to the track as a pair of steers could stomp you into the mud at any time. The crowd risk factor adds to the excitement.

In the beginning I was thinking this would be quite an adrenaline rush to drive a set of steers in a race. Then I witnessed a racer shooting down the final sprint to the finish line as his sled broke and he was trampled by the stampeding duo racing up behind him. My dream of "running-for-the-roses" evaporated. The winner of the all-day event received $812 in cash, and a brand new 110cc motorcycle; quite a purse for this Third-World setting.

At an event of this nature people were dancing, gambling, and drinking on the sidelines. In the middle of all this, my friend met a monk who had only donned the robes a month before. This young man was truly seeking God, and he got to hear the Gospel for the first time in his life. In the midst of all this chaos and bustle of activity, an eternal difference may have been made. We left him with a Bible in his language, and a deep joy in our hearts.

Pray that:

This young monk will read the Bible, and come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Believers will go where lost people are to meet them and share the Gospel.

God will lead believers to people of peace who are seeking God with open hearts and minds.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.